Schauffele seizes the moment, and the jug

With title there for taking, American had perfect timing

- JOE CALLAGHAN

Xander Schauffele kisses the claret jug on Sunday after winning the British Open, his second major victory this year.

Xander Schauffele's approach to the 72nd hole at Royal Troon was coming from 187 yards back in the fairway and was still somewhere up there in the dusty grey Sunday sky as his father stepped out of a British Open courtesy vehicle.

Stefan Schauffele straw hat perched atop his head, blacked-out Bono shades wrapped around his eyes pounded up four stairs somewhere behind the 18th green just as the roar rose from the grandstands on either side of it. Not a small nor streamlined man, Schauffele Sr. moved surprisingly swiftly. A moment he had watched countless times from a sofa in San Diego with his son was now about to be made by his son. Less than 30 seconds later, the straw hat bobbed through the crowd swelling by Royal Troon's quaint sandstone clubhouse and Stefan was indeed there to see it.

In this sport where timing isn't the only thing but is nonetheless everything, both Schauffeles were as metronomic as the big Rolex clocks tick-ticking up on the iconic Open yellow scoreboards overlooking 18. With the final groups reaching the turn, the 152nd running of this grand old tournament, a wild and wonderful edition for the ages, had been there for the taking and it was Schauffele who reached out and emphatically grabbed it. He timed his move to perfection with a 6-under 65 and a string of four birdies in six back-nine holes that swung this thing.

In doing so, he extinguished the dreams of a half-dozen other contenders: some likely, some less so.